


The world will end in fire

by lego_ergo_sum



Category: Flintlocks & Fireballs (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Massive ep 72 spoilers, sibling angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23630887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lego_ergo_sum/pseuds/lego_ergo_sum
Summary: What if Tsander had chosen to stay with MylaThis is basically the opposite of a fix-it fic
Relationships: Tsabnet & Tsander
Kudos: 5





	1. Tears

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry, but also not.

Celestia kneeling on one side, arms outstretched, Tsabent clutching their hand from the other side, the rest crowded around in silence, they wait.

And wait, and wait and wait. They wait there, in complete silence for hours past when Celestia finishes casting, till the sun has set completely, and there is only stars and the moon above.

Finally, Celestia falters, no longer able to keep position, no longer able to keep up the pretense that there is still hope. Hope. That word that had been so unfamiliar to Tsander. She lowers her arms, they are painful and stiff. Tsabnet doesn’t seem to react, but his knuckles pale where they are clutched around Tsander’s hand. 

‘Tsabnet, I, I don’t think they’re coming back. It’s been too long. I am so sorry.’

Tsabnet gives no indication that he has heard, he just stays there, head bowed. Celestia tries again.

‘Tsabnet, they’re gone.’

‘Go away.’

‘What?’

‘Leave. Us.’ His tone is clipped and halting, as though he can barely force the words out. The others glance at each other, and reluctantly file off of the rooftop, leaving Tsabnet to his grief. 

When they have all left, Tsabnet takes a deep, shuddering breath, and gathers Tsander in his arms. 

‘Why did you have to go. It feels like a part of me has been ripped out, and I will never get it back. What am I meant to do on the surface without you, Tsander. It is so bright here and the light was always your domain. I don’t want to see a sunrise without you to share it. I wish you had not given the child your ring, if only so I could hear your voice one last time.

‘I know Celestia said it had to be up to you, but even still I had hoped you might choose me - us.’

Tsabnet begins crying, the tears slow at first but increasing as he begins to rock Tsander’s body in his arms. He stays like this for a long time, mourning the loss of the last of his family, before a kind of resolve comes over his face, and he lays Tsander down gently, dries his tears and stands up.


	2. Fire

When Tsabnet joins the others, his eyes are red from tears, but he speaks with determination, and not a small amount of anger.

‘I would like to burn my sibling’s body at dawn. It feels only fitting that even in death they will create light, and I will not meet my first sunrise alone.’

They find a place too destroyed to be salvaged, but wooden enough that it will burn, and create a pyre for Tsabnet to lay his sibling’s body on. With a last muttered goodbye, he throws a lit torch on the pyre, before Scamp throws a fireball, and the last physical remnants of Tsander Cormwraith meet the dawn’s brightness with their own. He stands and watches the flames until they fade, and as the fire turns to embers, a new fire is ignited within his eyes. 

At last he turns to Oksana.

‘You said you knew someone who could help us take down the Underdark, correct?’

‘Uh, yes, Matcher will probably be willing.’

‘Good, take me to him. I will have Adran Rothenal dead at my feet, and if it takes burning down the rest of the Underdark along with him, so much the better.’

This time, there is no party, no wake, no duel, there is just a man, alone, drinking heavily till he passes out. This time, Tsabnet is alone, and there are no new beginnings, no fresh start, no promises of openness, just a man fueled solely by the desire for vengeance. 

There is no letter this time, for what good is doing right by a world that has done so wrong by him. Just a man who will see the world burn, and who will throw himself into the flames he builds.


End file.
